National Games: Delhi's Mohit Sherawat clinches 81kg judo gold despite a dislocated shoulder

Gandhinagar, Oct 8 (IANS) Mohit Sherawat went for broke and won both his semifinal and final bouts, both within the first few seconds, in the 81kg weight category to clinch the gold medal in the 36th National Games at the Mahatma Mandir Complex here on Saturday.

Mohit Sherawat came into the National Games as the pre-event favourite, having won the Senior Nationals title in Lucknow earlier this year. But he dislocated his shoulder midway through the quarterfinal against Sarabjit Singh of Punjab. Sherawat needed to protect his dislocated right shoulder. But decided to go all out and finish the proceedings as early as possible.

"I was leading by a point then. So I decided to play it safe because if I had called for medical attention, I would have had to concede. But he made a mistake and I got a throw. In the semifinal and final, I decided to just go for a throw if I get the right grip and it worked wonderfully for me," said Mohit Sherawat, who thanked his stars for being a left-hander.

The Delhi judoka, who admits that he got interested in the sport because of the combat aspect, credited the support through the Khelo India Scheme for his development and said his next target is to make it to the Asian Games next year.

"Indian judokas have started doing well on the international circuit. We even won medals in the Commonwealth Games this year. For me, my immediate target is to play the Asian Games next year," said Mohit Sherawat, who now trains at the SAI NCOE in Bhopal.

In the day's other bouts, Lal Humhimi bagged Mizoram's first gold medal of the Games when she defeated the formidable Pincky Balhara of Delhi in the 52kg final.

Lalhumhimi had registered a tough win over Simran of Haryana in the semifinals and waited for an opportunity to find the right grip for a throw against Balhara.

"Me and Pincky have faced each other many times. The last time I had lost to her. So, this time I was a lot more determined," said the Sashastra Seema Bal employee.

Madhya Pradesh's Yamini Mourya defeated Haryana's Savitri in the women's 57kg final while Vishal Ruhil of Haryana clinched the men's 73kg gold by defeating statemate Jatin.

RESULTS

Judo:

Women
NG-52 kg: 1. Lalhumhimi (Mizoram); 2. Pincky Balhara (Delhi); 3. L.Nungshithoi Chanu (Manipur) & Snehal Ramesh K (Maharashtra)

NG-57 kg: 1. Yamini Mourya (Madhya Pradesh); 2. Savitri (Haryana); 3. Suchi Katariyal (Haryana) & L. Bembem Devi (Manipur)

Men
NG-73 kg: 1. Vishal Ruhil (Haryana); 2. J Jatin (Haryana); 3. Pardeep Rawat (Uttrakhand) & Vikas Dalai (Haryana)

NG-81 kg: 1. Mohit Sehrawat (Delhi); 2. Harshpreet Singh (Punjab); 3. Parvinder (Haryana) & Abhishek Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh).